Global Glimpsehttps://www.globalglimpse.org
Open the eyes of tomorrow's leaders.Sun, 02 Aug 2015 15:51:50 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3https://www.globalglimpse.org/22259/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/22259/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 15:51:50 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22259Today was a different day for the students, because they had the opportunity to discover more about Dominican culture through movement. I love dancing so I was excited to be the leader of the day for this activity. El Rancho Campeche is a difficult sight

Today was a different day for the students, because they had the opportunity to discover more about Dominican culture through movement. I love dancing so I was excited to be the leader of the day for this activity. El Rancho Campeche is a difficult sight for the students so it was fun to see their faces come to life even through the heat. Our ambassador for the day led us through a wonderful dance routine, which had the group bursting out in laughter, and also helped them to realize that it is okay to make a fool out of yourself in the name of cultural discovery!

The fun continued at the Fundacion Solnaciente where we got the opportunity to learn about country’s African roots. The Atabales group was excited to show us the rhythm of the palo drums and led us through a jam session that had us ‘dancing for days’. We learned that the group aspires to show that atabales is as essential to Dominican culture as bachata and meringue.

By the end of the day the students were tired but could not go to bed before sharing a final dance session with the locals on the ranch. Like most embarrassing parents we joined them to demonstrate our exquisite moves. After all the Leaders have to have fun too you know!

]]>https://www.globalglimpse.org/22259/feed/0Ayuda En Los Países Desarrollandohttps://www.globalglimpse.org/ayuda-en-los-paises-desarrollando/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/ayuda-en-los-paises-desarrollando/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 14:23:30 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22171 We started off our sixth day here in Jinotega with a very delicious breakfast made by our lovely chiefs. Then, we started our day a little differently today. Instead of reading off the quotes of the day and discussing it with a shoulder partner, then sh

We started off our sixth day here in Jinotega with a very delicious breakfast made by our lovely chiefs. Then, we started our day a little differently today. Instead of reading off the quotes of the day and discussing it with a shoulder partner, then sharing out our thoughts among each other, our GG leaders decided that it would be better for us (Glimpsers) to bond more, and so we were devided into two groups, the leaders request us to draw an ideal kind of world without saying a word to each other. The results turned out beautiful!

Right after our first Academic Seminar, we got on the bus to finally start a new day outside of the hostle, our destination for the day was Cuculmeca; which is a great women led organization.

As expected from the leader of the day, I had to go inside with Belkis and check if they are ready for us. Unfortunately, the president of the organization could not make it to the meeting, but we lucky enough to have three awesome presentations from Non-Govermental Organizations; Water For People, Peace Corps, and EduCo.

All three organizations´ presenters were very passionate about what they are doing, and have high hopes in helping the community. We were also grateful to have them join us for lunch at Cuculmeca, which I also want to mention that it was very delicious.

Afterwards, we came back to the hostle, had free time for a little while, then started training our new leaders. Since we have free day tomorrow, our GG leaders, coordinators and I had to train the next two upcoming leaders instead of just one. While we were doing the training, the rest of the group went outside with the other leader (Brittney) to get few snacks, I was really thankful for those who had shared their snacks with me!

Even though we had a lot of negativity going on between each other, we ended our day with on a good note after we decided to just talk things out and end it. All in all, I felt like I wasn´t the greatest leader out of the whole group, everyone at the nightly meeting made me feel better about myself!

]]>https://www.globalglimpse.org/ayuda-en-los-paises-desarrollando/feed/0Working Like a Localhttps://www.globalglimpse.org/working-like-a-local-19/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/working-like-a-local-19/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 12:16:36 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22252Today’s events were intentionally centered around the typical experiences of farm workers in The Dominican Republic. And while those differences were addressed I can’t help but feel as if today was more about the glaring similarities not just between The

]]>Today’s events were intentionally centered around the typical experiences of farm workers in The Dominican Republic. And while those differences were addressed I can’t help but feel as if today was more about the glaring similarities not just between The Dominican Republic and the United States, but the entire world. We visited the farm of Constanza’s own Pedro Reyes, the owner of a fairly large Invernadero or greenhouse. We spent the day picking cucumbers and learning the process of fertilization as well as the importance of agriculture. We also were able to share life experiences with all of the workers and really connected. What we wanted to achieve as a whole was to gain a perspective on what it means to be someone that works very hard and still be faced with challenges that may knock us off our path to reaching our full potential. I am both proud and upset to say that that was achieved.

Today we also encountered a difficult situation where a Dominican male made a culturally offensive comment towards some of the female glimpsers. This tough situation presented us with a challenge that only proved to bring us together as whole. As well as bring to light a recurring issue not only in The Dominican Republic and the United States, but the entire world. What this experience has provided us with is a higher sense of awareness in terms of the world and also a higher sense of appreciation for those who chose to move in the direction of making it a more balanced place to live in.

During nightly meeting I wanted to touch back on the topic of gender inequality and how it effects the fluidity of worldly affairs. Due to women not being treated as equals, we as a society aren’t able to move towards the ideals that we so often preach to each other. Personally what I hope occurs is that all of our current as well as future glimpsers are able to learn from experiences like this and lead by example in the movement to end gender equality.

]]>https://www.globalglimpse.org/working-like-a-local-19/feed/2First day FAME in Constanza!https://www.globalglimpse.org/first-day-fame-in-constanza/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/first-day-fame-in-constanza/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 05:04:52 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22243Our blog from today (Saturday) will be posted in the morning, but for all you families that are waiting for news, we’d like to share a video of a radio and TV show that featured three of our Glimpsers on their first full day in Constanza! Watch the

]]>Our blog from today (Saturday) will be posted in the morning, but for all you families that are waiting for news, we’d like to share a video of a radio and TV show that featured three of our Glimpsers on their first full day in Constanza!

]]>https://www.globalglimpse.org/first-day-fame-in-constanza/feed/0Aid and Development Dayhttps://www.globalglimpse.org/aid-and-development-day-9/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/aid-and-development-day-9/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 04:32:04 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22207Today is our 5th day at the hostel in Nicaragua and its like everyone knew each other before coming on the trip. Today was definitely a day that everyone is going to remember and grow from. This morning, we were supposed to wake up at 6:00 AM and since my

]]>Today is our 5th day at the hostel in Nicaragua and its like everyone knew each other before coming on the trip. Today was definitely a day that everyone is going to remember and grow from. This morning, we were supposed to wake up at 6:00 AM and since my clock broke in the middle of the night I had to continue waking up to look at the security camera time. However, after everyone was dressed we found out that it was still 6:20 AM and it was way too early for breakfast (silly me). We had breakfast at 7:00 AM and we came back to thru hostel as soon as we finished eating breakfast. We had an academic seminar on how people want to help others with only thinking about the positive things that they are going to spread rather than the negative things that they could spread in the place that they want to help. The boys and girls were separated into two different groups and we got two scenarios that we had to act out. The girls got a scenario that would affect the people in a negative way and the guys got a scenario that would affect the people in a positive way. The guys were showing how people do things for others without thinking about the negative things while the girls were showing how people do things for others and actually think about how the people could be affected in a negative way. After the academic seminar, we went to visit the school in which we have to work on our Community Action Project. At the school we had to look and brainstorm on things we could do for our project, but while brainstorming we had to think about the things that could be taken care of by the people who we are leaving the project with.

After visiting the school for the Community Action Project, we went to Café de Sonrisas and we met with our speaker Tio Antonio. Tio Antonio was one of the best speakers of this trip so far because he was very inspiring. He spoke to js about how he decided to open a shop with workers who are deaf mute and also spoke to us about his hammock business and how he wishes to make the longest hammock in the world. We ate dinner and then we started with the activities. 1st activity was “welcome to my world” and we had to put in earplugs and we basically experienced what deaf people do. 2nd activity was where the mute people gave us nicknames and they remembered me through my smile. 3rd we did a piece of the hammock so that we could say that we participated in creating the longest hammock of the world. My experience at the Café was amazing. I was smiling the whole time and I was happy that I was able to make these people happy since they barely have and people to talk to. I was happy that I was able to make these people happy. After the Café, we came to the hostel and had free time for 2 hours. Then we had a CAP seminar in which we spoke about ideas for the Community Action Project. We had another free time because the next leaders had to have their leadership meetings. We left to dinner and had chicken sandwiches and then our self reflections. Everyone showered and now everyone is getting to bed. Today was definitely memorable.

]]>https://www.globalglimpse.org/aid-and-development-day-9/feed/0Day 5: Politicshttps://www.globalglimpse.org/day-5-politics/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/day-5-politics/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 04:13:21 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22167Hello my name is Ma’Khayla and I was leader of the day today. The day consisted of me waking all the Global Glimpsers up at 7 this morning. We arrived at Deja-Vu for breakfast at 8:00 and had eggs with salsa and toast and lemonade. After breakfast w

]]>Hello my name is Ma’Khayla and I was leader of the day today. The day consisted of me waking all the Global Glimpsers up at 7 this morning. We arrived at Deja-Vu for breakfast at 8:00 and had eggs with salsa and toast and lemonade. After breakfast we then headed back to the hostel and had a fun energizer called “who is the leader” to get our blood pumping for the day’s activities. We then had our daily seminar on politics by our GG leader, Rachel. After, we had about 15 minutes to get ready to leave for our first activity, which was the “Museo De Revolucion.” This Museum was a history of Nicaragua and it’s culture and about their dictatorship over the years. While learning the history, we had the privilege to walk on the roof of the museum and take in beautiful views of church buildings and the town’s life underneath us. After our tour/history lesson we headed back to the hostel and had a little free time to collect ourselves before lunch at Deja-Vu. After lunch, we had free time for an hour and a half to let our food digest and cool down from today’s events. At 2:30, we had another energizer to get the blood pumping again and review the other tasks of the day. By 2:50 we headed out of the hostel to Casa Comunal to hear a speech and ask questions to Saul and Brenda about social and political issues of Nicaragua. After we headed straight to dinner to Deja-Vu where we sat and socialized about the day. After dinner we headed to the hostel, unwound a bit and got ready for our nightly meeting, where I passed the torch to Bridget for out next day.

]]>https://www.globalglimpse.org/day-5-politics/feed/3FIRST FUN DAY!https://www.globalglimpse.org/first-fun-day-2/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/first-fun-day-2/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 04:04:04 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22225Hello family and friends my name is Bryanna and I am a fellow Glimpser that had the pleasure to be the leader of the day today! Today we had a free day and we split into two individual groups and roomed around the beautiful city of Esteli. It was a very r

]]>Hello family and friends my name is Bryanna and I am a fellow Glimpser that had the pleasure to be the leader of the day today!

Today we had a free day and we split into two individual groups and roomed around the beautiful city of Esteli.

It was a very relaxing day and we visited a local coffee shop, souvenirs stores, internet cafe and we got to call our parents and use the Internet for a while. Some of us got a little emotional hearing our loved ones voices and some of us sadly only got to here the voicemail machine. But anyways we all stayed strong and kept a big smile on our faces and enjoyed the rest of our day.

Later through out the day we got to talk about our community action project which later turned into a very hectic discussion but we all chipped in our creative ideas!

My favorite part of the day was when we all got together and shared our wonderful ideas during our seminar about the community action project and we are all very excited about this specific project!

]]>https://www.globalglimpse.org/first-fun-day-2/feed/1Politics Day Shenaniganshttps://www.globalglimpse.org/politics-day-shenanigans/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/politics-day-shenanigans/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 04:03:19 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22137Hello everyone! I’m proud to officially be the first Glimpser on the trip to write on the blog. I apologize ahead of time, it is late and we’ve had a long day so I’m experiencing a shortage of creative thoughts. Please bear with me and e

]]>Hello everyone! I’m proud to officially be the first Glimpser on the trip to write on the blog. I apologize ahead of time, it is late and we’ve had a long day so I’m experiencing a shortage of creative thoughts. Please bear with me and enjoy

We started the day out earlier than usual, about 6:00, it seems like our daily wake up call is progressively inching closer to dawn . . . Anyways! Breakfast was amazing as usual and the energizer seemed to create a sweeter environment. We were required to randomly walk around until a call was given to stop and regroup into a circle, then we turned to the person on our right, and one at a time gave them 3 compliments. Afterwards we had a very informational political seminar informing us on the corrupt but powerful leaders in charge of the humble country. This activity fed into the next which was our peace workshop where we discussed our thoughts on the best ways to keep peace in the country and the world (We had the privilege to listen to Jon Lennon’s “Imagine” . . . twice!)

Having a 2 hour break and the ability to leave the hostel and explore a little bit of the town (with the GG leaders of course! ;)) was a nice change in routine. However, the guest speaker was truly memorable, a 20-year-old dressed as an 80-year-old who narrated a “play” put on by his frivolous friends made learning about the history of Nicaraguan politicians a fun activity.

As amazing as the entire day was, nothing compared to the english tutoring classes we taught from 5-6:45. The students were incredibly passionate about learning a new language and were very attentive during classes. Every glimpser was so humbled after meeting individuals whom they had just met, yet would be able to call friends. Teaching these classes, were of course, the highlight of every Glimpser’s day (besides the chocolate cake :)p) and is an experience we’re not likely to forget. Thank you Nicaragua for an amazing day, and for even more amazing people! Stay tuned for tomorrow! It’s fun day! (btw we love your comments! a special part of our day is reading them out loud to the group and having a great laugh, thank you all at home for the effort!) <3

]]>https://www.globalglimpse.org/politics-day-shenanigans/feed/4Politics Dayhttps://www.globalglimpse.org/politics-day-23/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/politics-day-23/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 03:48:57 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22186Hi everyone! This is Isabelle and Eli, we were Los Líderes del Día (Leaders of the Day). Today’s theme was politics. In the morning we had an academic seminar. We started by asking who liked and who hated politics; a majority were neutral. Most peop

]]>Hi everyone! This is Isabelle and Eli, we were Los Líderes del Día (Leaders of the Day). Today’s theme was politics.

In the morning we had an academic seminar. We started by asking who liked and who hated politics; a majority were neutral. Most people who disliked politics said they didn’t like it because it is too complicated and they did not feel well informed. We then compared political corruption in the Dominican Republic to corruption in United States politics. We decided that most of the corruption in US politics emerges in bigger positions of power that are influenced by large corporations (such as Congress). One question that was asked to the group was, “Is being concerned about corruption a luxury?”. We said no, everyone is concerned with corruption but some people don’t have the time or resources to act on their concerns so they accept corruption as a normality.

After the seminar, Gabriel Mascaró (a local public defender) came to talk to us about the political climate of the Dominican Republic and how politics is part of culture. Early on in the lecture Gabriel defined politics as “A branch of ethics in which a free society decides and solves its problems”. A new word we learned was politiquería which means politics that do not serve others but serve politicians own interests. Gabriel explained that politiqueros are able to gain power because young leaders tend to stay away from politics. He expressed that it is essential for young people to get involved in politics to fight this corruption. Then we got a crash course on Dominican political parties. In the Dominican Republic there are 33 parties. The three main parties are PLD (Dominican Liberation Party), PRD (Dominican Revolutionary Party), and PRM (Modern Revolutionary Party). Gabriel told us that PRD and PLD started with very strong and different ideologies, but when the parties gained power they abandoned their ideals and became politiqueros. When asked how politics play into culture, Gabriel told us that in a family each member is part of the same political party and supports the same candidates.

Today we had two guest speakers, the second being Armando de la Cruz. As a teenager, Armando won first place in his local and national Model United Nations conference, and won second place at the international Model United Nations conference in New York. Since he was a Model United Nations (MUN) expert, he explained how to do it. To succeed MUN delegates must wear formal clothes, have appropriate attitudes and body language, learn cultures, and have sufficient research. We were then split into Haiti, Dominican Republic, and the United States, debating the crisis of stateless people of Haitian-descent born in the Dominican Republic. We then went into intense debates where we discussed potential solutions. Our policies disagreed on a lot of things which made us realize why politics can be so inefficient, because it can be so difficult to agree.

At the end of the day, many of us felt more informed on how politics work and saw the importance of youth involvement in politics.

]]>https://www.globalglimpse.org/politics-day-23/feed/0Working Like a Local: Farming Dayhttps://www.globalglimpse.org/working-like-a-local-farming-day/
https://www.globalglimpse.org/working-like-a-local-farming-day/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 03:32:55 +0000https://www.globalglimpse.org/?p=22177Today we woke before the sun, something many people in the world do, both out of desire and necessity. Some say waking up early keeps you happy, some say it promotes health, and some just say rising before the noise of the outside world inspires a peacefu

]]>Today we woke before the sun, something many people in the world do, both out of desire and necessity. Some say waking up early keeps you happy, some say it promotes health, and some just say rising before the noise of the outside world inspires a peaceful and cheerful mindset. Others say that there are cows to be milked, chickens to be fed, and heat to be beat in the long fields of Nicaraguan fincas, the spanish word for farms. In our case, we woke to spend the long morning hours working like a local Nicaraguan farmer, or trabajador. We rose at four thirty and were out the door at five. After a bumpy hour of attempted sleep on the bus, we arrived at La Canavalia, a large all organic farm that produces everything from coffee, cacao, milk, eggs, meat, and more. We were graciously greeted with a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, gallo pinto (rice and beans), tortillas, sweet juice and hot coffee. After our energizing breakfast, we were presented with a short seminar about the farm itself and the importance of organic practices when striving to sustain the soil and atmosphere of our one and only Earth.

Once we understood what the farm was all about, we headed out to various different places around the farm where we worked cleaning out the living areas of the cows, maintaining fields, and cleaning and prepping plots of land. We found that when working as a team, diligence, cohesiveness, and rhythm are essential to completing a task. We also found that is important not to over-work or under-work yourself. Being honest with your body’s needs while also knowing what you are capable of is perfect for pushing yourself in a healthy way. Awarding yourself for achieving new levels of commitment to your experience by taking breaks and drinking water is a good way to stay encouraged. We discovered that we don’t have to worry about getting dirty, in fact we can celebrate the fact that the same water that sustains the growth and life of the plants we work with will also ensure our cleanliness at the end of the day, so there is nothing to be afraid of! When working with the plants and animals, we were reminded of the rewarding feeling that cultivating life other than our own gives us.

We were led to these discoveries by people who had been working on the farm for a number of years, particular group leader being a twenty seven year old women by the name of Sara. After working for three hours, Sara led us to sit near a tree with the intention of learning more about us. We told her a little bit about why we came to Nicaragua and how we made the journey possible. Afterwards, in a very composed and calm manner, she openly told us her own life story mixed in with an immense amount of wisdom and some advice.

She told us that, although she was born one of eight children into a poor family, she graduated from college with a degree in economics. She said she made this possible by working when she had to and studying the rest of the time. This made me consider how privileged I am to be able to dedicate most of my time to studying and my free time to pursuing my interests and hanging out with my friends. How, in this way, a social life in high school and college is more of a luxury than a right. She continued to advise us to be respectful to our family and value our parents for who they are and not what they give to us, to always be grateful for what we have and to take advantage of our opportunities regardless of what those around us have. She was adamant that unhealthy vices are dangerous and that we must always stay focused and true to our path, which we can find by setting goals for ourselves that we intend on meeting. She told us to surround ourselves with people who have similar goals and ambitions to ensure that we are always being supported in our journey. These words made a large impact on our group as she showed genuine care and interest for our future and well being, almost as if she was acknowledging the interconnectedness of all of our fates as human beings. Another thing she told us was (no offense to the boys out there) that out of all the previous delegations of Global Glimpse students, the girls have continuously worked harder and more efficiently than the boys. Because of the fact that Olaniyan and I were two strong female leader del dias, this felt empowering and awesome to hear.

Throughout all of the heat, bugs, sloths, slugs, sunshine, and dirt that today brought, I am proud of each and every glimpser for showing such brave commitment to this experience.